Did rust contribute to the Magic’s poor play?
The Magic lost last night, 90-80, at home to the Celtics, who were in the second night of a back-to-back. Doug Collins mentioned that the Magic may have been “rusty” because their last game was on Saturday.
Far be it for me to disagree with Doug Collins, but I’m going to disagree with Doug Collins. While the Magic may have been out of the normal rhythm of the NBA season, they did get four days of rest and recovery, which is never a bad thing. The Celtics had played the night before, and historically speaking, that’s more difficult to do than play after a long break. (At least Vegas thinks so.)
The Magic lost last night because the Celtics are just a better defensive team right now. They made things difficult on Orlando’s three-point shooters (32%) and held the Magic to 38% from the field on the night. For the most part, they were successful in keeping Dwight Howard off the block when he caught the ball, which allowed Kendrick Perkins and Glen Davis to play him one-on-one instead of forcing the Celtics to double-team. Howard was limited to 11 points, and since there were few double-teams, the Magic were forced to take a number of contested three-pointers, resulting in the lower accuracy from behind the arc. Orlando was also incapable of finishing at the rim much of the night, which only compounded the problem.
In the fourth quarter, Jameer Nelson got hot and Orlando tried to make a run, but Davis and Kevin Garnett hit jumper after jumper to keep the Magic at bay. The Celtics look like they’re rolling again, but I wouldn’t say that the Magic are out of their league. This was just one game.
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Posted in: NBA, NBA Finals
Tags: Boston Celtics, Celtics Magic, Dwight Howard, Glen Davis, Jameer Nelson, Kevin Garnett, Orlando Magic
I was surprised that the Celtics beat the Magic as easily as they did. They were in control all game.
John – in most cases, do you think that rest is a big deal in the NBA? Or is that something that is overblown because teams are used to getting up for games in back to back nights?
Give me a break! Celtics came off a back to back. Poor Orlando had days off. They should have taken advantage of it. They had more then enough time to prepare for a game against the defending champs. Rust is a sorry excuse for any team to use especially when the other team is on a 2nd game of a back to back.
Nora – are you responding to the title of the post or its content? I agree with you that while there’s probably some rust after not playing a game for four days, with the C’s in the second of a back-to-back, it definitely equals the playing field. Orlando just didn’t show up.